The Cosmos, The Arrivals, Book 1, Chapter 6, Robyn: Thin Maillot • Small Hole • Lost Memory, Day 1, Section 1, Robyn & Front Door Cam: Pledge in Maillot Cutout

Robyn makes her appearance at the Cosmos House the following day, the Day Three in the Term. Gamers know the type: the young woman who wears seductive clothes to lure men into giving her responsibility and then threatens them when they attempt to correct her for substandard performance.

Paparazzi spot the medium-build, self-confident, green-eyed blonde with big, streaked hair gliding down the sidewalk. If they want ...

The Cosmos, The Arrivals, Book 1, Chapter 6, Robyn: Thin Maillot • Small Hole • Lost Memory, Day 1, Section 1, Robyn & Front Door Cam: Pledge in Maillot Cutout

Robyn makes her appearance at the Cosmos House the following day, the Day Three in the Term. Gamers know the type: the young woman who wears seductive clothes to lure men into giving her responsibility and then threatens them when they attempt to correct her for substandard performance.

Paparazzi spot the medium-build, self-confident, green-eyed blonde with big, streaked hair gliding down the sidewalk. If they want to query Automatron they may superimpose her stats: 5’ 6”, 108 pounds, and a knockout 34C-25-34 figure poured into a strapless maillot cutout.

Robyn walks tall and with a stride, swinging her arms at her sides. She considers herself. {I know my golden skin tans easily, and I’m proud of my four tan lines. Two of them surround my smooth shaven legs, and one of them molds itself around my rigamarole. And the smallest surrounds my buttonhole. My navel commands Gamers!}

Robyn casts eyes about, searching out the more brazen paparazzi, but she finds them not. {My stretchy one-piece maillot cutout swimsuit molds to me like a second skin. And I’ve got the smallest navel cutout of anybody. So I know Gamers have to watch me, illicit or not.}

She tosses her magnificent flowing hair so instead of hiding one eye it hides the other. She runs a hand through this power accessory and flashes a concave, shaven armpit. She double checks gold-painted fingernails. {My value demands Gamers’ surveillance.}

If you don’t ask, Robyn will inform you, “My heritage is central European royalty.” Robyn has no use for men and no understanding of women. The exception is the very rich male, and she has yet to find a prince sufficiently worthy to embrace, yet alone bear offspring for. She has no comprehension that women frequently hold positions of responsibility and power.

Robyn turns from the sidewalk onto the walkway to the Cosmos House. Her strapless maillot crosses her back, wraps around her sides below her armpits, and stretches across the top of her rig; it leaves her armpits and shoulders bare. The stretch fabric does indeed contour Robyn’s shapely torso, but it also allows the left and right sides of Robyn’s rah-rahs to bounce independently, a freedom of movement savored by Gamers in high-speed video replays.

Robyn has forgotten that the maillot is but a single Garment. One piece.

Robyn catches the eye of the Front Door Cam upon her as she approaches the House. The Cam comes off its perch, hovers down the wooden stairs, stops, and tracks her motion until Robyn stops in front of it. They both take a step backward, so to speak.

Robyn considers her admirer, currently blocking the front stairs, Front Porch, and Front Door. A flick of the nose would be invisible were it not for the power of the lens. “You would be wise to stay out of my way,” Robyn declares to the Cam, “whether you’re being controlled by Gamers or by Automatron.”

The Cam retreats a few feet and rises a few inches.

“Go ahead, admire my beauty.” Robyn raises her chin in defiance. “My attire is more appropriate for the gym or the beach, but if I have to walk in daylight to get to the Cosmos House, I’ll consider it.”

The Cam whirs, as if to convey empathy to Robyn. That Robyn doesn’t have a choice in the matter is lost on her.

Robyn takes a big breath and addresses the Cam. “I’m sure my coverage will be among the most modest of any Cosmos trekking to the Cosmos House. I’m not but everybody wants to fondle me. I know. Gamers ogle my bare shoulders and legs. My little bit of cleavage. My beautiful face and radiant personality.”

The hover Cam pulls back and circumnavigates her in a loose spiral. Robyn’s way is no longer blocked, so she approaches the steps. The Cam collects swinging long blonde hair, her eyes and nose, her lips and dimples. It collects bare feet with golden toenails. It follows her articulated thighs as she climbs up the wooden steps. The front steps of the Cosmos House.

Once on the Porch Robyn discovers the Cam hovering; it settles itself midway between herself and the Front Door and collects her button in the shadowed daylight.

“You Gamers never miss the hole for my button!” Robyn exclaims, double-checking herself. True. The front and center round hole is two inches in diameter and encircles a belly button that Gamers call an “outie,” which was formed by how her birth cord was tied once her lungs turned on. It’s not all that big of a buttonhole, but it’s big enough to ensure this is a maillot cutout.

Robyn sasses the Cam. “There’s a reason why the cutout hole in my maillot is the diameter it is! And the smallest of all!” Robyn takes a step forward and the Cam backs up. “So Front Door Cam, stay out of my way!”

Robyn takes another step forward, and the Cam retreats to an oblique sideways position. Robyn puts her hand on the Front Door handle, pivots to the Cam, and issues an ultimatum. “You’d better watch out, Gamers, inside and out. I like it when you look at me, because I know you can’t touch. I control you.”

Robyn considers the Cam drinking in her birthmark. “Enough of you,” she exclaims. She waves her hand in front of herself and darts through the Door.